Study Reveals Tension between Employers and Employees around the Use of Social Media

I received this information from Dave McNamee from Deliotte.

Deloitte’s third annual Ethics & Workplace survey, commissioned by chairman Sharon Allen, reveals tension between employers and employees around the use of social media. This year’s survey set out to explore an area of increasing significance to the workplace; use of social networking and its affect on ethical behavior and reputational risk to a company.

Some top findings are:

· Sixty percent of business executives believe they have a right to know how employees portray themselves and their organizations in online social networks.

· Employees disagree, as 53 % say their social networking pages are not an employer’s concern.

· Nearly one-third (30%) of employees surveyed never consider what their boss or customers might think before posting material online

· Even though 74 % believe increased activity on social networks make it easier to damage a company’s reputation

· Of the executives surveyed, a mere 17% said that their organizations have a program dedicated to monitoring and mitigating risks associated with the use of social networks; less than a quarter (24%) have formal guidelines for the use of social media among their people.